Willem Ter Braak
Encyclopedia
Jan Willem Ter Braak (originally Engelbertus Fukken) (died c. 29 March 1941) was a Dutch
espionage agent
working for Germany
who operated for five months in the United Kingdom
. Although his active period was short, Ter Braak is believed to have been the German agent who was at large for the longest time in Britain during the Second World War. When he ran out of money, Ter Braak committed suicide
in a public air raid shelter.
on the night of 2-3 November 1940, landing near Haversham
in Buckinghamshire
. His parachute was discovered the next day but Ter Braak was not found. He had in fact made his way to Cambridge
where he arrived on 4 November. He found lodgings with a landlord and landlady who accepted his story of having come from Holland during the Dunkirk evacuation
, and claimed to be working with Free Dutch forces in London
on a Dutch newspaper.
s.
using numbers given by the double agent SNOW (Arthur Owens)
. Ter Braak evidently suspected that he would be detected, and told his landlady that he had to leave for London; in fact, he obtained a new set of lodgings again in Cambridge.
Ter Braak's story was suppressed at the time. An inquest
was held in camera
; its findings were released, along with other information about him, on 9 September 1945.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
espionage agent
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
working for Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
who operated for five months in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Although his active period was short, Ter Braak is believed to have been the German agent who was at large for the longest time in Britain during the Second World War. When he ran out of money, Ter Braak committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in a public air raid shelter.
Arrival
Ter Braak arrived by parachuteParachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
on the night of 2-3 November 1940, landing near Haversham
Haversham
Haversham is a village in the Borough of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated just north of Milton Keynes near Wolverton and lies between Newport Pagnell and Stony Stratford. Haversham-cum-Little Linford is a civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes.The village has two...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. His parachute was discovered the next day but Ter Braak was not found. He had in fact made his way to Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
where he arrived on 4 November. He found lodgings with a landlord and landlady who accepted his story of having come from Holland during the Dunkirk evacuation
Operation Dynamo
The Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...
, and claimed to be working with Free Dutch forces in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on a Dutch newspaper.
Activities
As an alien from an occupied country, Ter Braak's residence should have been registered with the police, but he did not do so. His landlord did tip the Aliens Officer off that a Dutch national was living with him, but the police did not follow up and speak to him, saying that they were sure he would register before long. He spent most of the day out of the house but never spent a night away, and supported himself from a large amount of cash which he had brought with him and which included United States DollarUnited States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
s.
Suspicion
In January 1941, Ter Braak was contacted by the Food Office about his ration card, which its records showed had been issued to someone else. This was because the card had been supplied by the AbwehrAbwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
using numbers given by the double agent SNOW (Arthur Owens)
Arthur Owens
Arthur Graham Owens, later known as Arthur Graham White was a Welsh electrical engineer who acted as a mole during World War II. He was working for MI5 while appearing to the Abwehr to be one of their agents. Owens was known to MI5 by the codename SNOW...
. Ter Braak evidently suspected that he would be detected, and told his landlady that he had to leave for London; in fact, he obtained a new set of lodgings again in Cambridge.
Suicide
By March, Ter Braak's money was running out and he had to change the dollar bills through a fellow lodger who worked at a bank. At the end of the month he no longer had the money to pay his landlady. On 29 March he deposited a large case in the left luggage office at Cambridge station, and went to the air raid shelter where he committed suicide using an Abwehr-issue pistol. His body was not found until 1 April; the possessions found on him included a forged identity card also carrying numbers issued by SNOW which had obvious errors, a Dutch passport without an immigration stamp, and 1/9d in cash. The case at the station was found to contain a radio transmitter.Ter Braak's story was suppressed at the time. An inquest
Inquest
Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"...
was held in camera
In camera
In camera is a legal term meaning "in private". It is also sometimes termed in chambers or in curia.In camera describes court cases that the public and press are not admitted to...
; its findings were released, along with other information about him, on 9 September 1945.